


Paths We Take

by Whyaretheyfictionalcharacters77



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Eren Yeager Loves Levi, Ereri Week 2020, Gen, Implied Relationships, Levi Loves Eren Yeager, M/M, One Shot, Open Ending, Paths, Short, Short One Shot, Wordcount: 100-1.000, but not really, ereriweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27192158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whyaretheyfictionalcharacters77/pseuds/Whyaretheyfictionalcharacters77
Summary: There are paths people have to walk, decisions people have to take.Now it's Levi's turn.Originally posted on Tumblr for the first event of Ereri Week 2020.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Jaeger (implied), Levi/Eren Yeager
Kudos: 25





	Paths We Take

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> Haven't posted in a bit but I had to catch up with a few Unus Annus videos and I seem to be obsessed with Markiboo's Phasmophobia gameplay so I apologise.  
> Need to find some inspiration for Kinktober but in the meantime I've found this Ereri Events profile on Tumblr and thought I'd give it a go.  
> This is my first installment, the prompt is "Paths". I took it a bit more philosophically but I hope you guys can enjoy it. There's a bit of canon divergence but it's not completely clear though I put tagged it just to make sure.
> 
> I've wrote this in a few hours so it's not long. Also, despite the open ending I hope it's clear the decision Levi decides to take.
> 
> xoxo Lexi

The silence around him is deafening, like a void sucking in all sounds, so powerful it also seems to muffle his own thoughts as he sits in his office. His eyes focus on the fire snapping in the hearth where the flames lick and jerk with quick motions. Despite the closed window a wintery cold breeze appeared to sneak in from crevices and gaps in the frame.

Levi doesn't care that much right now. Sitting here with a glass of Erwin's port he has stolen a couple of weeks back, the weather is certainly not the first thing on his list.

He's never liked over-thinking things, he's never found any benefit in doing so though he's always been careful before making a decision – life in the Underground would do that to a person. Over-thinking though has always been something he would see like a waste of time, going over and over the same problems without ever finding a solution.

Then why is he here? Drowning his sorrows in too fine a port to be used for this pathetic endeavour? He had thought that in his thirties he wouldn't have to endure this sense of loss and heart-break he's currently feeling. Pathetic, really, losing himself for 'matters of the heart' as Petra had liked to call them years ago. Levi simply calls it pining over an eighteen year-old bird-brain who's chosen the wrong path because of some complex of grandeur.

No. No, that isn't it.

Levi would like to say that was the case but unfortunately he's come to know the brat too well to actually believe that. Not like those wipe-asses from Mitras or the Military Police.

Eren Jaeger has always been strong-willed and stubborn but his resilience comes from his unmovable moral compass and aspiration to freedom. Monster, they've called him more then once, disregarding his unwillingness to be used as a human experiment in his father's quest for freedom. Levi remembers the many midnight talks they've had in front of the fire in his office, when the brat would go on and on about a better world, a better life. If he has to be honest, the Captain has always admired the optimism the brat is capable of despite the misery, heart-break and tragedies he's had to endure in life, on top of finding out the truth about his father and how he's been used by him. In a remote part of his mind, Eren Jaeger reminds Levi of himself. Both monsters. Both strong believers of freedom and justice. The years have shown Levi a more cynical view of the world and of people but Eren seems to still have that pink-veiled naivete of childhood when it comes to ideals and utopias.

Levi knows that's why he rebelled, why he left behind everything he's ever known to keep fighting, only this time in his own terms. The only thing the raven-haired wouldn't have expected is Eren joining arms with his half-brother, especially after everything Zeke has done and deaths he's caused.

_What would you say if you could see me now, Eyebrows?_

The death of his old friend sits still sore in his chest and knowing that the brat – _his_ brat – is now working with the man responsible for it almost breaks him apart. Almost. Though it feels like he's grieving the loss of Eren now on top of everyone else's, he knows the seventeen year old better than this. He knows _him_ (for a second he wonders if that's true or he's simply trying to convince himself, creating excuses for someone he once held very dear and still might).

He's reminded of something that Kenny once said, an eternity ago, when his life teachings were beating Levi down to the ground every other day. _“Life is full of choices, kid. Crossroads. And sometimes whichever path we take, whatever road we end up walking, is a life sentence. So choose well”_. Probably one of the only smart, useful things Kenny has ever taught him.

Crossroads. Did Eren have to stand in front of that crossroad, doubtful of himself and who or what he was, alone? From Armin's and Mikasa's reaction they couldn't have known Eren was doubting his place in the world, in the war. Eren took the road he most thought right and walked it. He's still walking it. There's no turning back now and probably that's the road the brat will die on. A life sentence.

The scary thing is that, Levi doesn't think he might be wrong.

_A choice with no regrets._

Levi looks down into the deep-coloured liquid and watches hypnotized the light from the fire playing with it. He sees Isabel and Furlan. Erwin. Petra. Oluo, Eld and Gunther. And so many others. And he wonders. He doesn't want to see the brat's face in that glass of port, not tonight or ever, but he's afraid that if he doesn't make a choice now those bright eyes will hunt him for the rest of his most probably short life. He's always followed his brain and once a decision was made he's gone through with it every single time. It's not going to be different now.

_A choice with no regrets._

When he gulps down the rest of the port and stands up Levi doesn't do it because of his quite concerning feelings for the brat. He doesn't do it to run away from his problems, neither to get into trouble. He does it because right now and probably until his life sentence is concluded _this_ is the right choice to make.

With controlled gesture he places the empty glass down and picks up his civilian jacket and cloak before going for the door. He closes it without looking back. Without looking at his uniform neatly folded on the desk, the wings of freedom bright even in the darkness of the evening; without looking at the familiar neck-tie resting on top of it.

And he certainly doesn't look at the letter burning in the fire, the embers once an official document where the words **EXECUTION ORDERS FOR EREN JAEGER** used to sit boldly and haunting on the whiteness of the paper.


End file.
